Traffic Citations Remain Steady In Carbon For Second Straight Year * This Despite Intensive Efforts By Police To Target Aggressive Drivers, Speeders.

May 05, 1998|by CHUCK AYERS, The Morning Call

Traffic citations in Carbon County held steady for the second straight year, despite intensive efforts by state police to target aggressive drivers and speeders under two initiatives unveiled last year.

But look for numbers to increase dramatically this year if early trends hold, particularly on Route 248 from Lehighton to the Lehigh Gap.

Audit figures for Carbon County's four district justices show 11,456 traffic citations issued in 1997, down only slightly from the 11,514 tickets for traffic violations in 1996.

But both figures show a rise from 1995, when 10,876 tickets were issued to drivers throughout the county.

Including criminal and civil fines, the district justices collected $2.08 million for the second straight year, about half of which represents fines and costs associated with traffic violations.

While the countywide numbers held constant, variations occurred in each district justice's jurisdiction. And in the case of District Justice Irene Hudasky of Lansford, the variation from 1996 was significant.

Hudasky's office saw traffic citations processed through her office increase nearly 31 percent. In 1997, the office handled 944 traffic citations, 291 more than the number issued in 1996.

"We have a full force in Lansford now," Hudasky said. "They have a chief, full-time officers, and that's why" there's been an increase.

She said the numbers have increased in Nesquehoning as well.

"They're out there doing their job," Hudasky said.

Hudasky's numbers increased more than any other district justice's even though there's no interstate highway in her district and the district isn't crossed by the Pennsylvania Turnpike.

Those are the locations targeted by state police to concentrate their stepped-up efforts in 1997 on operations Centipede and TAG-D.

District Justice Ed Lewis of Jim Thorpe, whose district includes part of the Turnpike, saw a drop of 233 citations in his office despite increased state police enforcement efforts.

Lewis said he attributes the decline to an artificial increase in speeding numbers in 1996, when the Turnpike was undergoing construction in Kidder Township.

When the construction zone forced police to move speed enforcement away from the construction area and into Penn Forest Township, traffic citations increased by more than 500 in his office.

According to audits from 1996 and 1995, Lewis' office handled 3,584 and 3,019 traffic citations those years, respectively.

And District Justice Paul J. Hadzick of Weatherly, whose district includes more miles on Interstate 80 and the Turnpike than any other of the county's district justices, saw a decline in citations in 1997 as well.

The number of citations processed in Hadzick's office dropped 575 in 1997 to 4,621 traffic tickets.

Efforts Monday to reach Hadzick for comment were unsuccessful.

Appleton's district, which includes part of the Turnpike, saw an increase of 309 traffic citations in 1997 over 1996, the audit found.

Appleton said if figures in the first three month of this year are a reliable barometer, he expects significant increases in citations this year.

Already this year, Appleton said, the number of traffic citations has almost doubled when compared with those issued by this time in 1997. There were 241 tickets in January, 350 in February and 274 in March. In 1997, 108 tickets were issued in January, 195 in February and 279 in March.

Much of the increase is attributable to increased enforcement along Route 248, Appleton said. And he expects it to continue.

"Even if the numbers hold from this month on, it will still be a marked increase," Appleton said.